


Second Generation

by motherofboys2004



Category: The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-04-27 15:06:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14428125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/motherofboys2004/pseuds/motherofboys2004
Summary: With Jude off to college, Steph and Lena once more get that phone call that there is a child who needs a home





	1. Chapter 1

Introduction: Stella Rose Samuel is thirteen and afraid of men after continued abuse by her step father. Her social worker thinks she knows the perfect family to help her feel safe.

Chapter One

Carla is a new social worker to the Adams-Foster family. It’s been so long since they fostered, they didn’t know the new people. Lena loves Carla instantly. She is fresh out of college, passionate, and fiercely protective of the kids in her care. She comes back to her office bringing a water bottle for Lena and a black coffee for Steph.

“Thank you”, Steph sipped the coffee greatfully. “You said you wanted a quick transition. Is there a reason why this foster home isn’t working out? Does this girl have a lot of behavior issues?” There was some worry in her tone. Steph had an excellent track record with traumatized teens, but she worried that her patience was not what it used to be when she was younger.

“Nothing like that,” Carla insisted. Stella was abused by her step dad for years and her mother did nothing to defend her. She is afraid of her foster dad and her foster brothers.”

“There may be no foster Dad,” Lena reminded her, but we have three adult sons who visit.”

“I think we can tackle that when the time comes”, assured Carla. I also think that Steph being a police officer will help her feel secure. Her abuser is our on parole.”

“I don’t think he’d want to come to my house” Stephs voice held a warning note. Sexual assault wasn’t something she had any mercy about. She was already thinking about how she could make it look like an accident while Lena, knowing her wife, shook her head warningly at her. Step marveled at her ability to read her thoughts.

Carla gave the couple a quick synopsis on their future foster daughter: due to the abuse she took anti depressants and went to therapy. She felt most secure wearing long sleeve shirts and pants even in the hot summer. She loved Harry Potter. 

The couple listened carefully and made their decision. They were definitely not starting over with infants but they still felt they were young and healthy enough to care for a teen. 

“I’m going to start getting her school paperwork ready”, said Lena. Let’s keep her old therapist, but I can be more help to her if she’s in my school. By next week, we should have a move in date.”


	2. High Alert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trust doesn’t come easily to Stella

Steph enjoyed having enough liesure time to pour herself a second cup of coffee. Since Stella was moving in that day she was going into work late. Lena was still on summer vacation so she would be home all day with her. Steph figured that with Lena’s undivided attention for the few weeks before school started, it would be easy for Stella to make a smooth transition into their home. 

When the door bell rang Lena ran past her to get it. No matter how many times social workers visit it never stopped Lena from a frenzied cleaning marathon before they arrived. 

Carla came in, all smiles with her arms full of purple duffel bags. “She loves purple,” Carla explained as Lena and Stef took the bags from her arms. 

“Good to know,” Lena smiled. “Where is she?”

Stef spotted Stella waiting shyly out on the steps. She gave jer an encouraging smile and waved her in. “Come on in love, its too hot out there.”

Stella stepped in just far enough so that she was inside the house. When the women greeted her they only got a soft “hey” in response. Stef walked over to her and tried to start a conversation about school and hobbies but wasnt having much luck. 

Carla was handing Lena all of Stella’s antidepressants and reading the labels with her. “That’s a lot of medication for a young girl.” She was beginning to think they would have their work cut out for them.


	3. Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena feels that she is in over her head

Stella didn't sleep in, even during the summer. Steph and Lena could hear her in her bedroom until well after midnight, and she was usually up by 6:30 a.m. She was always on high alert, and did not relax, even enough to sleep more than a few hours at a night. 

By the time Lena got up at eight Stella had settled in to watching "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" "Hi Lena," Stella greeted her softly. "This is the one where Sirius Black breaks out of prison and everyone thinks he is going to kill Harry, but he was really best friends with Harry's parents." 

"Oh that's right," Lena remembers. "I have really learned a lot more about Harry Potter since you moved in." Lena also credited the Harry Potter books as the reason that Stella had such nice reading scores, which she discovered when she tested her to see how well she would adapt to her school. Though she was reading well above grade level, Lena was worried about math. Stella was only testing at the fourth grade level and she was thirteen. One of the things on her to-do list that morning was to look into math tutors.

'I'm going to do some laundry," Lena told Stella; "please try to eat something while you are watching t.v." Stella was a picky eater who ate very little.

"Ok," Stella agreed, though her eyes barely left the screen.

Lena started with the laundry. She threw in a load of the school clothes that she had just bought for Stella. She wanted them washed before the child wore them. Next, she went to strip the beds. She started at her own bed and rolled her eyes at the goldfish cracker crumbs on Steph's side of the bed. I mean, really?

Stella always kept her door closed, but Lena did not think anything about going into the teens bedroom. After all, she just wanted to strip her sheets. She kept her room fairly neat for a teenager, with her bed haphazardly made. Lena pulled the blankets back to get the sheets and pillow case. As the pillow fell off the bed Lena heard a metallic clunk.

Lena looked down curiously and picked up the pillow to see what would make that kind of noise. Her eyes widened as she drew out a long steak knife. It was from Lena's collection of cooking knives that Steph had gotten her as an anniversary present. 

Lena was ready to go and confront Stella but she was struck with a more urgent thought. Was this the only knife missing? Obviously Stella was still afraid that she was not safe but how many knives had been taken? She placed the knife back in the pillow case for the moment and headed to the kitchen.

Lena did a quick inventory and realized that a total of three of her professional, very sharp cooking knives were missing. Feeling a bit dizzy, she texted Steph a quick summary of what she had discovered. "I think I'm in over my head here" Lena finished up her text with a request for help.

Lena was relieved when it only took a moment for Steph to text back. "I'm taking an early lunch break and coming home, be there in fifteen."


	4. Getting Out of Our Heads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steph looks at alternative therapies while spending time with her girl

Steph poured herself some of her favorite Puerto Rican rum, looking at Lena approvingly as she stepped out of the shower. "What do you want baby?" Steph was exceedingly proud of the home bar she had designed in the east corner of the bedroom and did not miss an opportunity to use it. Besides, Lena had been worn out from transporting Stella to and from therapy, the book store and the skate park this summer, and she did not want her to fall asleep too quickly.

"My favorite cocktail?" Lena asked hopefully. Steph grabbed the cranberry juice and vodka. "Of course baby. I'm going to add a little orange peel to this." She narrowed her eyes, looking at Lena's creme colored silk jammies suspiciously. "Do NOT fall asleep."

"I'm awake", Lena assured her with a smirk. She was fully aware of Steph's plotting. "I am just worn out lately. Stella needs a lot of supervision to make sure she doesn't hurt herself. And all her activities wear me out. I am not as young as I was when we were going through this the first time."

"You look the same to me", Steph said honestly. Lena did retain her beautiful willowy figure and her hair was just a little lighter shade then when they had first met. 

"You sit down here" Steph plopped Lena unceremoniously on a bar stool with her cosmopolitan, "and I will check on the kid." Lena and Steph had gone through Stella's bags regularly and done bed checks as well since the knife incident.

Steph strolled with purpose to Stella's room and only gave one sharp knock before entering: enough to give her a brief warning that she was coming but not giving her enough time to hide anything that she was doing. Stella rolled her eyes at the intrusion and closed her lap top.

"Hey love," Steph greeted as she ignored the teenage attitude (she had raised Marianna, nothing phased her now.) "What are you looking at?"

Stella grudgingly opened up her lap top and Steph briefly scrolled through the Harry Potter chat room that Stella was in. "I don't know what you think I'm doing," Stella muttered. "I'm not plotting to bring down the government or anything."

"Love," Steph admonished, "we talked about this. We caught you doing unsafe behaviors and until we feel that your choices are better, you won't have an much privacy as you would otherwise. Your therapist agrees with us," she couldn't help adding.

"Nicole is a sheep," muttered Stella, referring to her therapist, "and she agrees with everything you say. All of that talking doesn't make any difference. It's just talking about the same stuff over and over. It's such a waste of time."

Steph had wondered herself if re living Stella's trauma over and over was a great idea, but she knew that the therapist did plenty of techniques besides that. Besides, she figured the adults needed to present a united front. "I think you do more than that in therapy, but we can also look at other things to help you. I'll look into it," she promised as she gave her a quick hug. 

Steph returned to the bedroom to find Lena still up (thankfully) but scrolling on her laptop. Steph inwardly groaned, thinking that if Lena has started working on lesson plans or assessments for her job, her fun was done for the night.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, sitting next to her and retrieving her glass of rum. 

"A website about girls who have been assaulted", Lena, turned the laptop to the side so Steph could see. "I keep thinking there is something that we are missing. There must be something else we can do for her."

"I was just talking to her about that," Steph scooted to the laptop closer to herself and started her own search. "She's tired of therapy." On a whim, Steph typed in alternative therapies and started to poke around.

"Maybe she needs a pet," Lena suggested, "something to get her out of her head and enjoy life again." Steph grimaced at the thought of having one more being to take care of and kept searching. The name "Sweet Shade Farms" caught her eye and she began to read.

"Instead of getting a pet right off the bat," Steph suggested, "why don't we bring her to a place that specializes in working with animals and abused kids? This is an equine therapy farm, that pairs abused kids with rescue horses." 

Lena peered at the laptop screen, "I've never heard of it before."

"There are some studies connected to it, I am sending them to your email" Step assured her, knowing that Lena was an educator and always wanted to read the research, "but I think we should check it out."


End file.
